The 1993 debut of Liz Phair, Exile In Guyville, received great reviews at the time of its release. I only know this because I did some research on the album before writing my own review. Honestly, I doubt I could have told you who Liz Phair was back in 1993 (or 1994-1996 for that matter). If I had to guess, I’d say that a lot of people weren’t really aware of this album being around at the time. The grunge thing was going strong. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden all had big releases that year, and these were all groups that had at least once successful album under their belt. It would be easy for any new artist to go on unnoticed in that musical climate.

Personally, I’ve only come to know Exile In Guyville in the last year or two, but slowly I’m finding that I’m not alone. I first got a burned copy of it in the mail. I remember thinking, “Liz Phair? That doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy.” However, I started to get hooked on the first listen. So many of the songs are catchy right away. It wasn’t too long before this burned CD was on regular rotation in my car stereo, and on the day I finally put a scratch in it, I immediately sought out the nearest purveyor of music and bought my own copy.

Prior to owning this album I had very few albums in my collection by female artists, a failing that I’ve only recently started to correct. Of course Janis Joplin proved a long time ago that women can rock pretty hard, but sometimes we forget.

Exile in Guyville is Phair’s answer to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, each of which feature eighteen songs.

Truly excellent songs:

• Track 9 : Mesmerizing
• Track 10: Fuck and Run – I’d love to cover this song. However, I think I’d draw some strange looks singing lines like “I want a boyfriend.” The song is so great that it would be criminal to change the lyrics to suit my own wants and needs.
• Track 12: Divorce Song – Another great upbeat song about a relationship not working out, but no hard feelings. The harmonica solo at the end is the icing on the cake.
• Track 15: Johnny Sunshine
• Track 18: Strange Loop

Songs I could do without:

• Track 4: Dance Of The Seven Veils
• Track 14: Flower – It’s got a beat, but you wouldn’t want to dance to it. The sexually explicit lyrics may have been a therapeutic release for Phair or maybe it’s all for shock value. At any rate the song itself is a little boring.

Songs that will grow on you:

• Track 17: Straftord-On-Guy – The heavily effected drums at the beginning and the nonstop flow of the verses might throw you initially, but the chorus will be stuck in your head all day: It took an hour, maybe a day, but once I really listened the noise just went away.

Filed under: Album Reviews, Reviews by John